Highlights: Consumer associations from eight European countries filed a complaint, Thursday, February 29, with the personal data protection authorities. Since November, Meta has offered European users of Facebook and Instagram the choice between continuing to use these services for free. This formula was presented by the American giant as a way of complying with European rules on the processing of personal data. The decision will be centralized, and should in principle fall to the Irish data protection authority since it is in this country that Meta's European headquarters is established.

Consumer associations from eight European countries filed a complaint, Thursday, February 29, with the personal data protection authorities against the paid subscription system put in place...

A complaint from European consumer associations against Meta's paid subscription system

Consumer associations from eight European countries filed a complaint, Thursday, February 29, with the personal data protection authorities against the paid subscription system set up by Meta on Facebook and Instagram, announced the European Consumer Union Bureau ( BEUC).

Since November, Meta has offered European users of Facebook and Instagram the choice between continuing to use these services for free by agreeing to provide their personal data for targeted advertising purposes, or paying a subscription to no longer see advertisements.

AP - Richard Drew

By: RFI Follow

Since November,

Meta has offered European users of Facebook and Instagram

the choice between continuing to use these services for free by agreeing to provide their personal data for targeted advertising purposes, or paying a subscription of 9.99 euros per month to no longer see of advertisements.

This formula was presented by the American giant as a way of complying with European rules on the processing of personal data, which have already earned it several convictions and fines.

But Meta is once again accused of violating the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), requiring data collection to be minimized to what is strictly necessary and to act with complete transparency.

“

This kind of surveillance-based business model poses all kinds of problems with GDPR.
It is time for data protection authorities to put an end to Meta's abusive data processing and violation of

users' fundamental rights, says Ursula Pachl, Deputy Director General of the European Consumer Organization (BEUC). .

“

A smokescreen
”

For these organizations, including UFC-Que Choisir in France, this system of paying to avoid being targeted by advertising is “

a smokescreen intended to divert the consumer's attention from the illicit processing of their personal data

Complaints from associations are filed in a coordinated manner with the data protection authorities in France, Slovenia, Spain, Slovakia, Denmark, Norway, Greece and the Czech Republic.

The decision will be centralized, and should in principle fall to the Irish data protection authority since it is in this country that Meta's European headquarters is established.

At the same time, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB), which brings together the competent national authorities, must issue an opinion by the end of March on this type of formula.

(

With

AFP)

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A complaint from European consumer associations against Meta's paid subscription system

A complaint from European consumer associations against Meta's paid subscription system

“

A smokescreen
”

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A complaint from European consumer associations against Meta's paid subscription system

A complaint from European consumer associations against Meta's paid subscription system

“ A smokescreen ”

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“

A smokescreen
”